Jets take off
The Manawatu¯ Jets will take off with four new players on board, including one American Kiwi who is returning to the side.
BASKETBALL: The Manawatu¯ Jets will take off with four new players on board and one of them is former NBA star Allen Iverson’s cousin.
At 2.06 metres tall, Kuran Iverson will add some much-needed size to the Jets’ roster.
The 24-year-old forward has been playing in the NBA G League for Wisconsin Herd and is one of three United States imports the Jets have signed ahead of their first game in the 2018 National Basketball League season against the Taranaki Mountain Airs in Palmerston North tomorrow.
The other two imports are Daishon Knight, a point guard or combo guard who’s been playing in the Qatari D1 League, and Brandon Lucas, a guard or forward who played at East Central University, Oklahoma, for two years.
Marcel Jones, however, is the addition to the roster who will be most familiar to Manawatu¯ basketball fans, after two previous stints at the Jets.
Jones, 32, a 2.03m forward, is expected to be key to the Jets’ offence. He has also previously worked with Jets coach Tim Mctamney when he was coach back in 2009.
Originally from Long Beach, Los Angeles, Jones became a New Zealand citizen in 2012.
The Jets are returning to the competition with a young squad after financial problems prevented them from fielding a team for two years.
Jones knows what it’s like to join a squad in their first year back after he did that for the Canterbury Rams in 2014.
Lucas, 25, and Knight, 27, both went undrafted ahead of the 2015 NBA. Knight played college ball at Illinois State.
The rest of the Jets’ roster is taken up mostly by local young talent.
The Manawatu¯ Jets’ game against the Taranaki Mountain Airs is at Fly Palmy Arena in Palmerston North tomorrow, from 3pm.